NamPower Secures Funding for Regional Electricity
Grid Project
Dec 11, 2008 - Chamwe Kaira - Bloomberg.com
Namibia Power Corp., the southern African
country’s power utility, secured 1.1 billion Namibian
dollars ($109 million) from three European development
banks to link its power grid to other countries in
the region.
The funding will come from the European
Investment Bank, the French Development Bank and the
German Development Bank, said Paulinus Shilamba, managing
director of the state-owned power company. The project,
called the Caprivi Link Interconnector, will connect
Namibia’s electricity grid with those of Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, South Africa and the Democratic Republic
of Congo.
“The Development Bank of Namibia also
granted a loan of 60 million Namibian dollars in this
regard,” Shilamba told reporters today during an update
on NamPower’s projects. The 350 kilovolt line is expected
to be operational by the end of next year, he said.
NamPower is investing 9 billion Namibian
dollars over five years to expand its electricity-generation
capacity. Namibia, which imports half the electricity
it uses, needs to add at least 300 megawatts of generation
capacity to meet domestic demand.
Shilamba said the construction of a
fourth unit at the Ruacana Hydro Dam on the Angolan
border, which will increase capacity to 320 megawatts
from 80 megawatts, will start in mid- 2009.
NamPower is also close to completing
an agreement with South Africa’s Clarkson Power for
the joint development of hydropower stations along
the Orange River, on the border with South Africa,
he said.
Kudu Gas Project
South African utility Eskom Holdings
Ltd. has also approached it about partnering NamPower
in the development of the Kudu Gas Project, while
large energy users in the country “have indicated
their willingness to participate in the project as
power off-takers,” he said.
Development of the Kudu field, which
holds about 3 trillion cubic feet of gas, has been
delayed by negotiations with operator Tullow Oil Plc
about the price of gas and how to handle currency
fluctuations, Shilamba said.
Positive developments in negotiations
have recently been made, and “we now strongly believe
that a breakthrough will be made in due course for
the development of Kudu,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chamwe Kaira in Windhoek via Johannesburg at abolleurs@bloomberg.net.
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